


Bad Reception

by Fibi94



Series: Universe Echo [8]
Category: Designated Survivor (TV)
Genre: F/M, I really don't like Kendra's former boss, or Andrea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 14:17:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15731118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fibi94/pseuds/Fibi94





	Bad Reception

“Remind me again why are we doing this?” Alex asks Tom while getting ready, Tom chuckles “To hell if I know, Emily said we should so we do.” Alex chuckles, “Well I’m not complaining it’s always nice to play dress up.” She says, Tom is puzzled and he turns around to ask her what she means, Alex is leaning against the closet, smiling mischievously as she sees his jaw hitting the floor. She sees him open and close his mouth for a couple times “What?”

He looks shocked and it makes Alex laugh, she walks closer to him and takes his hands in hers “You approve Mr. President?” she asks, it takes Tom a little to get his thoughts together, “Aren’t you worried what they’ll say about the uncovered arms?” he asks showing the spaghetti straps of the gown “Let’s just say, I’ll leave the sleeves for the first ladies that need them. Unless I want to wear them.”

He raises his eyebrow, he takes the jacket from the hanger and takes her arm, “You fired your stylist didn’t you?” he asks her as soon as they got to the elevator.

“That obvious?”

* * *

 

Alex walks in the office, Tom is humming under his breath as he scribbles something on the papers in front of him “I heard Mathew is on his way back.” There was a smile on his lips as he nods “Today was good.” He says, Alex walks closer to him and sits down on the desk, he puts his hand on her knee again, “How about the other thing Tom?” she asks him he looks up to the clock across from him, “They’re on their way”.

“I’ll leave you to it then.”

* * *

 

Tom felt his hands shaking a bit as he saw the door opening, both Dax and Andrea walk in, they seem confused to be ushered in at the same time, looking at their faces he can’t help but feel anger raising in him. “Dax, Andrea. Thank you for coming. Have a seat.”

They awkwardly sit down he notices how Dax seems so comfortable, his arms spread on the back of the couch while Andrea looks as uncomfortable as it goes, her hands clutched tightly on her lap as she looks everywhere but him, he notices as she rubs her hands together the wedding band on her finger, it angers him even further, she obviously forgot it, but he turns to Dax first, “Did you speak to Agent Hannah Wells about Dr. Frost?”

Dax seemed uncomfortable, “Yes. Uh, she asked for my help.” He says, Tom nods and turns to Andrea “And I assume you didn’t hear anything from her since the confrontation last week right Andrea?” she’s almost surprised she’s being addressed, Tom knows Alex would love to be in the room right about now. “No, I haven’t seen her at all” she says, after clearing her throat.

Tom nods and turns to Dax “She's a tenacious investigator and insists that Dr. Frost is responsible for the cyber attacks that have crippled my administration.” He says, Dax doesn’t look at Andrea who just seems like she’d wish she was anywhere but here.

“I know. She told me.”

“She's wrong.” Tom states, he sees from the corner of his eyes Andrea breathing out in relief it makes him even more angry but he ignores it, he has to face the biggest issue first.

“During my 25th Amendment hearing, Dr. Frost was questioned about a conversation, a private conversation, that we had right here in this office. Agent Wells thought she leaked that conversation to Ethan West in... In an effort to undermine me because that's what the hacker would've done.” He says, he has to admit Andrea is really good at playing the shocked one, Dax shakes his head “You never know what people are capable of.” He says, Tom nods.

“Exactly. So I had the Secret Service sweep my office for bugs, and they found one thing.” He says walking to the small model car he had prominently displayed in his office, he takes it in his hands and takes a small bug out of the bottom of it, “This.” He says showing the bug to Dax, throwing the model car away without care. “Inside the car you gave me. Needless to say, I was speechless because I couldn't believe that a man who I considered to be one of my closest friends could possibly have hacked the power grid, NASA...”

“Tom.” Dax says, the man stands up from the couch, his whole face changes; it hardens as his hands twist in tight fists. “Speechless doesn't even come close to covering this.” Tom stops for a moment, he feels the bile raising in his mouth, “And if all that wasn’t enough, I learn that you didn’t just bugged my office, but you pimped out your wife. Am I wrong Andrea?” if he is honest the last part hurt him even more, he didn’t understand why his friend would be trying to undermine him, but the thought that he would actually send his _wife_ to sell him a tear filled story to get close to him is something beyond anything he could have thought, ever. “Why the hell would you do this to me?” he asks them both, Andrea is silent looking at the carpet, but Dax doesn’t seem to willing to do the same.

“You know the greatest curse facing this country right now? Government interference. Overregulation.” He says, it confuses Tom, he doesn’t want to believe that all this was just for money, it couldn’t be what his friend was saying.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Free enterprise? The promise of America? A promise that's been strangled by red tape, a bureaucracy that prevents innovation, stifles human progress.”

“So you attack our institutions, undermine them, in the hopes, while the country's distracted, you and your wife could build your empire without scrutiny?!” Dax smirks, “You make it sound like I'm some kind of Bond villain. I’m not.”

“Then what the hell are you?” Tom asks, he notices Dax face, it’s cold, unreadable, it scares him that he could be friends with someone like that,

“Do you know the societal good our companies can do if they are left to flourish without antitrust investigations? And I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about freedom. The greatest right we have as Americans is the right to be left alone.” He says, Tom takes a deep breath and turns to Andrea who remained silent throughout the whole thing “What do you have to say for yourself?” he asks her, she stays silent for a moment, not saying anything, it makes Tom angry as hell. “Nothing to say right?” she shrugs, it’s almost as if she doesn’t care, it’s even worse for Tom right now.

“Trust me, I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure you're left alone both of you.” He sees Andrea’s eyes widen, it’s terror “You never said anything about jail.” She says to Dax, he doesn’t say anything, he stands there frozen as the implications of their actions hit him as well. “Well that’s what happens when you commit a crime.” He tells her, Tom pushes the button under his desk, Hannah walks in first, Tom watches how Dax and Andrea look at the woman in shock, “Agent Wells? So you're back in the President's good graces.”

Hannah smirks “I was never out.” She says, “I broke into your house while you were at lunch with Frost. And I realized how many of her things were there, so I looked deeper into it.” She says, the smug look on her face makes Tom weirdly feel like smiling himself, he had to give it to Hannah she was an amazing agent pulling this incredible feast in only few days.

“You staged her firing?” Dax asks Tom.

Tom couldn’t stop the chuckle, “Yes. Because I knew you'd be listening. And I knew, when she talked to you about Dr. Andrea Frost, you'd take the bait. You were willing to throw her under the bus to save your skin.” “You would?” Andrea asks him, “How could you?” Tom shakes his head “Stop it both of you!” he turns to Hannah, she looks slightly amused by the spectacle and under different circumstances, and without the headache splitting his head he might have too, “Get them out of my sight.”

Hannah nods and turns around following the rest of the agents taking Dax and Andrea out of the room “Hannah.” Tom calls her name, she stops at her feet and turns around “Can you stay behind for a moment, I need to talk to you.” Hannah closes the door and stands there, she doesn’t know what the president would like to tell her but she is curious “I wanna thank you for pulling this off, finding the hacker.” Hannah smiles, she shakes her head “I just did my job sir.”

“You did, and I interfered in it, I didn’t believe in you and I am sorry for that.” Hannah is taken aback by this admition she looks at the man, “Well sir, it’s all good now.”

Tom smiles, “I hope so.” He battles inside his head, he knows that Hannah cared about Damian Rennett, whatever Alex might say, she did, but he can’t bring himself to lie so he tries the middle ground “How’s John, is he recovering ok?” Hannah smiles widely, this is probably the first such smile he has ever seen “Yes sir, he’s annoying his wife at home.”

“Good, have a good night Hannah.”

“You too sir.”

* * *

 

Aaron went home right after Hannah left at the bar, he was driving slow, his head was dizzy and he didn’t want to crash, the moment he walked in his apartment he feels the tears he worked so hard to keep at bay escaping his eyes, he always thought that eventually he’d lose Hannah, it was just in her nature to be a free spirit never trapped in one place or to one person for too long but he never thought it would be like that, and definitely not so soon.

He wonders would it be better if he had lost her years down the road, when the connection was deeper and maybe the feelings he subdues would be stronger or now, now that things are easier, now that even he hasn’t defined the feelings he has for her, now that she knows nothing, now that he doesn’t know how her lips taste, how her skin feels, how she looks first thing in the morning when their lives aren’t under threat.

He takes out her badge and realizes that this small picture is the only picture of her he has, he props it up on the coffee table and lays down on the couch his eyes falling on her face, unsmiling looking back at him from her official FBI picture.

He realizes this is the closest he’ll ever come to falling asleep watching her face.

* * *

 

Alex walks pass by an room, it’s usually empty, but she sees Kendra laying on the couch there, her shoes are off, an arm covering her eyes, she walks in and closes the door behind her, noticing the other door is closed already, for a moment she freezes remembering this was the room she was prepping her before going to the FBI for her statement on Christmas, she remembers Tom coming over, telling her that he’d like to take her on a date.

She shakes her head trying to rid of that image, it was all in the past and right now Kendra was her main priority.

“Kendra?” Kendra looks up shocked, “Alex!” Alex sits down on the coffee table

“Honey you don’t look good to me.” She says, “Is it about the nomination?” Alex knows how much Kendra wanted the nomination to go smoothly, and having it tank so soon must have hurt.

“Kinda.” Alex smiles and reaches for her hand limply laying next to her, “It’s fine you’ll find another nominee. GOP was playing hardball.” Kendra bites her lip, Alex sees the tears forming in her eyes, “It’s not that Alex.”

Kendra’s reaction is worrying Alex to no end, this isn’t normal for her friend, “What was it?” she asks.

“Years back when I was a junior associate; we had an one night stand.” Kendra sees Alex’s face changing as she hears the words. “It was consensual and I enjoyed myself greatly. I am not saying I am a victim, I wasn’t raped, but looking back,”

“You still feel violated.” Alex says, Kendra turns and looks at Alex, “Crazy right?” Alex smiles and shakes her head “No.”

“No?”

“No Kendra, I was pregnant and still being hit on in the work place. Private practice it’s a ruthless place and a lot of bad seeds are there, for a long time. Lawyers are sleek, he might not have raped you, but he still coerced you.” She stops for a moment and leans closer to Kendra, “Would you have slept with him if you were sober?”

“Probably not, I didn’t want the rumor to be I slept my way to the top.”

“Exactly! You were drunk you can’t give consent while drunk, from a legal standpoint.”

“It’s not just that. I craved his approval, I still do, do you think it might have affected my decision?”

“To sleep with him? Probably.” Alex takes a deep breath, she tries to find the right words for the parallel she wants to give to Kendra, “Think of it that way, how many times have you stayed in a relationship, when you should have left?” Kendra smiles, they both know the answer is too many, “Your boyfriend is not abusive, just jealous.”

“Too many to count.”

“It’s the same thing Kendra. You weren’t abused in those relationships; you were just coerced staying there. Sexual misconduct and abuse, abuse of power, they are layered issues. Not everyone’s story is the same, and not all offenders deserve the same punishment, but they all did something wrong, and they all deserve some type of punishment.” Kendra nods, “So you think losing the seat on the bench was enough?”

Alex shrugs she honestly doesn’t know “Time will tell. For now yes.” Kendra nods, but Alex can still see that something is bothering her, “But he did so much good, that’s what’s conflicting me.” Alex nods, she understands what she means, “He did so much good, how could he be,”

“A manipulative son of a bitch?”

“Yeah.”

“There’s more to a book than its cover.” Alex says smiling, “Yes he did many good things, but he also discriminated against women that didn’t sleep with him and manipulated young attorneys to sleep with him, there was no obvious crime, at least none provable beyond reasonable doubt, but it’s still wrong.”

“So you think I was victimized?”

“In a sense. Just because you weren’t raped it doesn’t mean you weren’t violated. You said so yourself, you wouldn’t have slept with him if you weren’t drunk.”

“But I was attracted to him.”

“And I assume he was too, that’s why he asked you.” Alex knows why Kendra fights her every step of the way, it’s almost sad the other woman doesn’t see it as well, “That’s not the point though.” Kendra nods, she slowly sits up from the couch, her hand still clutching Alex’s tightly. “There’s something else too.”

“What?”

“He tried to pull the same thing off tonight.”

“He did?”

“He started complimenting me, and ordered me the same drink I had back then,”

“And it made you wonder how much of it was your choice?”

“Yeah. It makes me wonder Alex, did I really chose it because I wanted to sleep with him or did I chose to because he wanted me to.”

“That’s a big struggle Kendra, and I am probably not the one to ask about it. I spent most of my professional life married to the same guy.” Kendra laughs, she won’t admit it because she’s embarrassed but she is kind of jealous of Alex, “All you need to know is that it wasn’t your fault. He coerced you to have sex, but you aren’t in the wrong here he is. You know that right?” Kendra nods, of course she knows it, her logical brain knows it very well, “Then why do I feel guilty?”

“Because society programs us this way. You know how it is, it’s always the woman’s fault, but you also know the truth, it’s never the victim’s fault, you can never blame the victim for what happened to them.”

“But why do I feel like that?” Kendra doesn’t like how she sounds, this is not her voice, and she is sure that she’s annoying Alex, but to her surprise Alex didn’t seem frustrated with her at all.

“Because it hurts. Seeing the bad side of someone you love and respect it’s never easy. It’s not a reflection on you,” Alex smiles and moves next to Kendra on the couch, “Right now, Tom is speaking to a toad because he found out that one of his college friends was a back stabbing bastard that had put a bug in the oval office drunk off of his face and pretty soon he’ll be puking on a carpet with the presidential seal on it but then tomorrow morning he’ll get up and get back to work, in the very same office.”

“Yeah I heard about Andrea and Dax, right?”

“Yeah, you didn’t get the point did you?”

“What was the point?”

“You need to cope with it, however you want, and then tomorrow you’ll put your big girl pants on and move forward stronger than you were when you walked in this building today.”

Kendra smiles “A constant battle right?” she says, “Right.”

“You up for a drink?” Kendra asks, she feels so much better now after talking to Alex, she is afraid that if she leaves and goes back to her apartment alone this feeling of content would leave her completely.

“If we go get Tom first so he won’t throw up on a carpet with the presidential seal sure.” Alex says giving Kendra her hand to help her up.

“We could, he’s funny drunk, I could use the distraction.”

* * *

 

Alex opens the door to the office, Wyatt looks desperate, hiding his face in his hands, he almost cries from relief when he sees Alex walking in, the sight she and Kendra face is somewhere between hilarious and crazy.

“I love you Cornell is there anyone else I can trust anymore?” Kendra bites the inside of her cheek so hard she can taste the blood, “Dax and Andrea are traitors, my brother is hiding something from me.” Tom stops, he looks at the frog with an almost loving look, “You’re my only friend Cornell.”

“I thought I was your only friend!” Alex says not able to keep silent any longer at the madness in front of her,

“Alex!” he tries to stand up but he falls down again, clearly too drunk to stand up unaided, he tries to stand up again, his stubbornness is a shocking feature of the man for Kendra, “Well?” Alex asks, her hands on her waist looking down at the president almost laying at her feet. Tom gives up trying to stand up and he just sits wrapping his arms around her knees, “You are my best friend but also you’re married to me so it doesn’t count.” He says laying his head on her thigh, Alex smiles and helps him up, he sways a bit at his feet but finds his balance soon,

“Hm, how about we go upstairs? Kendra will come with us for a few drinks, what do you think?” Alex asks him, Tom turns towards Kendra and smiles widely, “Kendra!” he says, the bottle of whiskey dropping from his hand as he opens his arms and wraps Kendra in a tight hug, “I love you so much.” He tells her, Kendra looks over his shoulder to Alex who’s very amused by the situation, “I love you too sir?” she says wondering how she got here,

“Tom!” He says, Alex chuckles, he’s been trying to get Kendra to call him Tom for almost two months now and even though Kendra complies most of the times they are not in the office she still slips.  

“Tom, ok.” She says, there’s a satisfied smile on his face as he just wraps Kendra even tighter in his arms, “What’s wrong with him?” she mouths to Alex, “He might have found out about your boss.” Alex whispers, Tom looks up “Baby?” he takes a better look at Kendra still trapped by his hug, “Alex?”

“I’m here you dummy.” She says putting her hand on his shoulder, “Let’s get you upstairs.”

* * *

 

“Is he sleeping?” Kendra asks Alex as soon as she walks out of the bedroom, it was well over midnight and Tom had finally gotten tired of being the clown for the two of them and more or less collapsed on the floor,  “Hear that?” Alex says showing the bedroom door.

“Holly shit he snores a lot.” Kendra says, Alex sits down at the armchair Tom was using before, “Only when he’s drunk but yes.”

“Wow!”

“How are you feeling?” Alex asks after a few minutes of silence between them.

“Better, you were right.” Kendra pauses for one moment, she doesn’t want this to sound forced or rushed because it wasn’t. “I feel better.”

“There you go. You should stay the night; you drank too much to drive.”

“No, no, I don’t have clean clothes left.” Kendra protests, she knows Alex will not let her leave but she feels that she had at least put in a fight.

“I have a closet full of them, go!”

“Thank you.” Kendra says smiling, she starts walking to the door of the living room taking her way to the familiar bedroom on the third floor she has used before, “Goodnight Alex.”

“Goodnight Kendra.”

 


End file.
